Master Mobians
by Manias 3.0
Summary: Have you ever wondered where the Master Emerald came from? Well, Knuckles is very surprised to find out that all those tales about the "gods" are all false when he discovers the real creators. And a few more surprises wait when he discovers that God is always winning the big fights with him. Find out how in Master Mobians.
1. The Legend Long Forgotton

**(I do NOT own any Sega characters. I own only my series characters, the Masters. Enjoy!)**

…

This story begins with a legend that was long forgotten. Long ago, deep in the outer reaches of space, there was a planet with no name. There were, on this planet, masters of their own traits. They were ruled by the Master User who led them all in justice and kindness. Her power was given to her through the Ultra Emerald on her staff. However, the Ultra Emerald was not the only thing with power. There were seven Master Emeralds created for designated purposes to bring balance to the planet. The Red emerald was designed for courage. Blue was for peace. Light Blue for happiness, and Yellow for strength. Purple was for honor and White was for truth. Finally, the Green was for divinity, for the Ultra Emerald created the green through its own power. But there grew trouble when the Master Villain attacked the palace. The Anti-Emerald was on her staff, and she used its powers of evil, hate, and destruction to wreak havoc among the people. But, the Master User was not swayed. She Chaos Controlled the Master Emeralds into the farthest reaches of space never to be seen or heard from again. To this day, the Master Emeralds are scattered across the universe, giving life to whatever planets they lived on…until now.

…

"C'mon, Knuckles!" Sonic, our blue hero and speedster of Mobius, stood at the foot of Angel Island waiting for a certain red echidna to come watch him at the tournament verses the Jets, and be his coach. "Are you taking a bath up there or what?"

Knuckles poked his head out over the over-hang and yelled back. "I'll be right down! Just hold up! The Master Emerald is acting strange."

"So are you," Sonic grumbled as he seated himself on a nearby rock. Knuckles went back to the Master Emerald to see the strange patterns of glows illuminating from the Master Emerald. It almost looked like it was signaling something. But what? "KNUCKLES!" Sonic raced up to Knuckles, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the race course at sonic-speed. But all the while, Knuckles kept thinking about the strange patterns being illuminated in the Master Emerald.

…

After the race, Sonic, wearing his 57th blue ribbon, and Knuckles sat together at the foot of the shrine. "So what are you so worked up about?" Sonic asked his friend.

"The Master Emerald is making a series of light patterns I don't understand," Knuckles confessed. "It's almost like a signal to something," he added as he turned to look at the Master Emerald, still illuminating the beams.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Knuxs," Sonic patted him on the shoulder. "Unless those signals trigger disaster, then I don't really see much danger. Strange, though," Sonic turned to see the Master Emerald. "This is not really how the Master Emerald should be acting."

"That's what I'm worried about, Sonic," replied Knuckles.

…

"The time is nearing," said a female voice in a room on a space cruiser deep in space. The voice belonged to the Master User, standing in her neon-green robe, gray boots, and shimmering green crown. In her right hand was the staff that held the Ultra Emerald, the source of her power. She sighed as the Ultra Emerald pulsed. "I feel it. The last of the Master Emeralds; it is near."

"Master User?" A deep male voice sounded behind her. The Master User turned to see the Master Advisor, her brother. He was decked out in his blue jump-suit with his light-blue cloak. In his right hand, he held his bronze staff.

"Ah, brother. What news? And don't call me that. You can call me 'sister'. You are the next in line to the throne, you know."

"I know," the Master Advisor said with a playful smirk, "but you know I can't do that; it wouldn't be proper. But I CAN be the bearer of good news: we have located that last Master Emerald."

The Master User and the Master Advisor ran into the cockpit, and looked at the scanners. On them, light pulses were guiding them to the Master Emerald number Seven. "Where is it?"

The Master Pilot turned his head and said, "On a planet teeming with life. It is called 'Mobius'."

"Set a course, Master Pilot! And Hurry!" the Master Advisor commanded.

So, the hunt for the remaining Master Emerald began.

**(What a climactic Ending! But you just wait until the next chapter, I'll make the Masters meet the Mobians [LOL]. Until next chapter, LATER!)**


	2. Masters meet Mobians

**(I do not own any Sega characters, just my Masters.)**

…

Knuckles stood next to the ever-pulsing Master Emerald, deep in thought. The red echidna kept thinking about how his clan, the Pachamacs, were charged with guarding the Master Emerald when the gods brought it into existence. More specifically, his great-great grandfather, Pachamac himself, took it upon himself to guard the Master Emerald personally. His descendants followed in his footsteps until only Knuckles was left. He heard footsteps approaching, and he looked over to his right. There stood Shadow the Hedgehog looking at him with a questioning stare. Knuckles un-crossed his arms and beckoned him forward. The ebony and scarlet hedgehog walked up the stairs until he was inches away from the red echidna. "The Master Emerald is calling someone," he commented.

Knuckled nodded and said, "I just don't know who."

"Do you think the someone will answer?"

"If anything, I hope not. I don't want to lose it again."

Shadow sat down on the steps and sighed. "Knuckles, you have been the guardian for too long. It is time someone else took over, and you retire."

Knuckles narrowed his eyes and growled. "Are you saying that I'm not eligible for this job?" he threatened.

"Not at all," Shadow replied, "I'm only suggesting that someone else guard the Master Emerald and you take a long-deserved break."

Knuckles turned to respond, but stopped short when he heard a small boom in the distance. Shadow seemed to have heard it too, and turned with knuckles to a whooshing sound overhead. There flew a silver ship flying toward the Ancient Ruins for a place to land. Knuckles glanced over at the Master Emerald, and saw it pulsing rapidly. Could this mean that the call of the Master Emerald had been heard? Wanting to find out, he rushed to Ancient Ruins to see what the ship was. Shadow too, was curious, and followed.

…

Knuckles was the first to set his amethyst eyes on the massive silver ship. It was shaped like an oval, had port-holes on each side, and a large door at the bottom. In the front, he could see through the large window movement. He didn't know who, or what, was in there, but he wanted to find out. But, before he could start climbing up the support beams, the massive door opened, and at least six people came out. All of them had crowns attached to headphones on their heads with a microphone extended. And, they all had staffs with crystal orbs at the bottom in their hands, cloaks, and gray boots. The one in front had a staff that had a large, green emerald on the top. She had a neon-green robe, brown hair, a silver and green tiara/ crown, and a black jump-suit with a darker green belt. Knuckles started to walk towards her, but a hand on his shoulder made him stop. He saw Shadow shaking his head for him to stay put. Knuckles looked over at the group, and saw that they noticed them. They came over, and the leader said, "Greetings. I am the Master User, and we have come for our lost Master Emerald."

Knuckles fell upon his knees and bowed low to the ground and said, "The gods have come back!"

One member of the group decked out in yellow and orange, had a gold cross hung around his neck, and had brown and black hair said, "We are not gods; there is only one God. I am the Master Preacher, and I created the Master Emerald, yellow. All we need is the last of the seven."

Knuckles got up and said, "Seven Master Emeralds? How can this be?"

The blue Master said, "Each of our own kind created one Master Emerald each. There are seven in total. I, the Master Advisor, created the blue."

The Master User stepped in and said, "Thank you, brother, but I think they know what we are talking about."

Shadow stepped next to knuckles and said, "Actually, yes, we do. This is a similar thing to our seven Chaos Emeralds-"

"'Chaos Emeralds'?!" the Master Advisor gasped. "You mean the green Master Emerald has rebirthed?"

"Nothing like that at all," Shadow replied calmly. "Let me explain…"

…

"I see," the Master User replied after the long explanation. "So, the Master Emerald has grown attached to this world. Interesting."

The Master Musician, a sea-green and blue-haired guy with a dark-blue jump-suit and a light-blue cloak and roller skate attachments on his boots, started singing random tunes and holding his microphone-staff up to his mouth like a rock star. Then, he grabbed Knuckles by the hand, and started rapping and dancing away saying, "So, the guardian says, 'I am the last.' But, if you ask me, there's more than that. I'm getting some MASSIVE vibes one where his tribe might be hidin' away. Look over there!"

He let go of knuckles, and pointed at another floating island covered in all sorts of machinery and lava and lights. Knuckles dusted himself off and said, "THAT is the Noctuines. They have been the rivals of the Pachamac tribe for many eons. They have only gotten here two years ago to make peace, but I still don't trust them. Especially with the Master Emerald.

"But they ARE echidnas?" the Master Advisor questioned.

Knuckles pointedly tuned his back, and grunted an inaudible answer.

"You'll have to excuse him about that," Shadow apologized. "It's a touchy subject for him."

The Master user nodded her head. "I understand. Now, will you please, guide us to the Master Emerald green?"

Knuckled looked over and said, "I don't want you taking it. It has been my sworn duty to protect it. Plus, it is the only thing that keeps Angel Island afloat."

"No promises until we know what the Master Emerald green wants."

"What do you mean?"

The Master User just sighed and explained.

…

"You see, I, the Master User, created the Master Emerald green for divinity, and, thus, gave it a mind of its own. I do not know what is going on with this emerald, but it has been calling us for two months. We decided it was finally time to reclaim the Master Emeralds anyway, seeing as the threat on our world had passed, but time is different on your world than it is on ours. So, for you, it was six-thousand years. For us, six months."

"Kind of like the time-frame between us and earth," Knuckles whispered to himself.

"After gathering the Emeralds of hope, peace, strength, courage, happiness, and truth, we couldn't find divinity to join them together."

"Which leaves the pulsing of the Master Emerald here to signal your ship to us," Shadow concluded.

"Precisely," the Master User confirmed. "So, unless we have the Emerald of divinity, the unity of the Ultra Emerald is useless." The Master used showed Knuckles the emerald on the staff. "God himself chose my people to be the sole guardians of THIS Ultra Emerald. We just made the Master Emeralds ourselves to balance the power."

Knuckles pondered this for a moment, then said, "I believe you. It's just that my clan has grown so attached to the Master Emerald, I couldn't bear to give it up without a fight."

The Master advisor had had enough and said, "Then I propose a challenge: you verses me in a little one-on-one. The winner keeps the Master Emerald green."

"BROTHER!' the Master User gasped, "Violence is not the answer!"

But knuckles just grinned and said, "Deal! Let us make our way to the shrine and prepare for a little brawl."

Shadow could only watch as they shook hands in agreement. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled out his communicator and called the Sonic team, the Heroes of Mobius.

…

**(And, so, the wait for battle commences. *In announcer voice* Tune in next time, and see the winner-take-Emerald brawl of the century. Who will win? Knuckles the Echidna? Or the Master Advisor? * in normal voice* Review down below to see who you pick.)**


	3. Challenge: Knuckles vs Master Advisor

**( I do NOT own any Sega characters, just my OCs, the Masters.)]**

…

"I knew Knuckles was bull-headed, but I wouldn't imagine him doing something as stupid as this." It was time for the little brawl, and Sonic was over on Knuckles side of the arena set up on Angel Island talking to Shadow. The whole of the Sonic team was there to see Knuckles fight an unnecessary battle for the Master Emerald (green).

"Me either, but he did," Shadow shrugged. "But the Master User and the Master Guardian don't seem to have any issues with this so far, so I would assume everything will work out one way or another."

Meanwhile, over on the Masters' side of the arena, the Masters User, Guardian, and Inventor were having a little chat of their own. "Are you sure that you saw the Anti-Emerald readings, Jonathan?" asked the Master User.

The Master inventor, in his neon-blue jumpsuit and white lab dress coat with black hair and a blue bang covering his left eye, nodded gravely. "Positive. It is definitely her. I can pin-point her exact location if I had more time."

"Do it!" the Master Guardian shook him violently, making the blue goggles on his head fall on his face. The Master Guardian in her pine-green cloak and pink jump-suit and black hair stopped shaking her brother and said, "If the Master Villain has truly returned, I need to make sure she doesn't bring any harm to the Master User!"

The Master User patted her life-long friends on the shoulders and said, "It's alright, you two. I'll be fine, and you can call me by my real name. You always have. But, I do want to make sure the Master Villain won't get the other Master Emeralds. Jonathan, will you set up the security system, please?"

The Master Inventor straightened his goggles and said, teasingly, "Consider it done, your grace!"

They couldn't say any more, because the fight was about to start.

…

Knuckles stood on his side of the ring looking at the Master Advisor, or Ben as he was called. _Look at him,_ he thought_, with his smug face. I'll beat him no problem._ But the thought changed when he saw Ben tap the orb at the bottom of the staff to the ground. Then, he started glowing in a neon blue light. His bronze tiara grew a visor on the bottom, covering his eyes. Armor from thin air formed on his body; a silver chest-plate and leg-plates. His staff grew into a double-bladed bronze tool, and his boots grew spikes on the bottom. Knuckles stood there in awe. _How'd he do THAT!?_ Seeing the surprised look on Knuckles' face made Ben snort with laughter. "Shall we fight?"

Knuckles shook himself out of his shocked trance, and pounded his fists together. "You betchya, punk!"

Knuckles rushed head-first into the fight, and threw several punches. All of them were dodged by Ben, who back-flipped backwards to get away from him. Then, swinging his sword, he knocked Knuckles back with the flat. This was not a killing battle, but Knuckles had to be taught that the Masters should NEVER be messed with. Knuckles landed with a thud against a post. Pulling himself back up, he charged like a bull once more. This process of charging and smacking back continued for a good five minutes. Eventually, Knuckles could barely stand; he was so tired and bruised. But he did not give up. Pulling himself up on his feet once more, he walked over towards the Master Advisor once again.

"When do you EVER give up?" Ben impatiently asked him.

"When I'm interrupted or if I win," Knuckles replied. And, as if on cue, the sky went dark. Everybody heard evil laughter, and saw a female with a purple jumpsuit, gray boots, and a black cloak. She had a black tiara on her head and a pink stripe down her long brown hair. In her hand, she held a staff similar to the Master Users, but the Emerald was jet black. She grinned evilly at the group below her and shouted, "I am Celia, Master Villain, and I have come to claim ALL the Master Emeralds!" With that, she used her black emerald to levitate the Master Emerald from the shrine, and teleported away.

…

"NO!" Knuckles shouted at the vanished figure. Just as he did, though, he felt a rumbling. Everyone else did too, and held on to something. As usual, without the Master Emerald's power, Angel Island would fall into the ocean. Sure enough, everyone heard a great splash, and the island started floating in the water. Knuckles looked in despair at the empty shrine. "No, no, no, no, NOOOOO!" He fell kneeling to the ground and buried his face in his hands. "Why!? Why is it always the Master Emerald!?"

Sonic came over to his pal and patted his shoulder. "We'll find her; don't worry."

But, then, an explosion was heard in the distance. The Master User looked behind her to see a big puff of smoke and fire in the distance. "Our ship," she said sadly. "The Master Emeralds are in the hands of our worst enemy now." Turning to her allies, she nodded. All except the Master Preacher transformed into their battle forms. The Master User transformed last. Her staff extended into a long blade with the Ultra Emerald at the top. Her chest-piece and leg-plates were silver, as were all of the others', and her cloak was tossed behind her like a cape. "Let's go!" she beckoned, "The fate of the Universal balance is at stake."

"Let us help you!" Sonic rushed up to them. "We know the ways of Chaos Control. Maybe we can help?" As he said this, he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald. The rest of the team filed in behind him and supported him by holding up the other six. The Master User smiled and said, "You never cease to surprise me. But what about Knuckles?" she nodded to the distraught echidna.

Sonic looked over his shoulder and said, "Let him be. He gets cranky when he doesn't have his way."

"I will stay behind and watch over him," said Randal, the Master Preacher. "As you know, Master User, I am not a fighter."

"As you'll have it, old friend," the Master User consented, and, so the battle team went off in pursuit of the Master Villain to try and reclaim their stolen property.

…

**(Is it the end? Will they win? Will they lose? Find out soon in the next chapter.)**


	4. True Worth

**(You should already know what I'm about to say, so I won't say it…Doh! Okay. I do NOT own any Sega related characters or sorts, just my OCs, the Masters. There! Happy now?)**

…

Knuckles sat at the foot of the empty shrine miserably. Angel Island was now in the middle of the ocean, his friends were gone, the Master Emerald was stolen (why wasn't he too upset about that?) and he has almost lost a match. _Could this day get any worse?_ Pretty soon, a clap of thunder was heard over-head, and rain started pelting down. Knuckles just growled, "You had to throw that in there?"

**[HEY! No breaking the forth wall! Stick with the script!]**

The Master Preacher, or Randal, called out to him. "Come inside the shrine. You won't get wet."

Knuckles got up, walked over, and sat down in the entrance of the shrine, still miserable. Randal, too, sat down next to him, and started talking.

"You know, I am more of a peace keeper than a fighter, but I can guess you probably want to get even with Ben, right?"

Knuckles just sighed, "That, and I still can't believe that four bad things happen in one day. It's like I'm cursed or something. Well, I mean, I already am, but it feels like a whole lot more than that. I'm just bummed."

Randal shuffled himself into a comfortable position, and looked at the depressed echidna. "Well, there are some words of comfort that maybe might help you."

"Knuckles looked up at the brown and black hired preacher. "What?"

Randal lifted his head and looked at the ceiling. "Psalm 71 tells of God not forsaking those whose strength is spent. It says in the ninth and tenth verses, '_Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together.'_"

"That doesn't sound TOO hopeful," Knuckles commented.

"Ah, but in the twentieth through twenty-fourth verses, it says, '_You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. I will also praise you with the harp-'"_

"I don't even know how to play a harp!" Knuckles complained.

"Let me finish," Randal said, not bothered by the interruption. "'-_with a harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.'"_

"One more question: what is a 'lyre'?"

Randy turned to him and said, "It is another word for the harp. Anyway, '_My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt.'"_ When he finished, he smiled, "So, in the end, everything will work out, and the enemy will be defeated with the help of God. You'll see."

Knuckles thought about this for a moment. Even though he had lost the fight against Ben, that still didn't mean that he was a loser. Plus, the real enemy was Celia, the Master Villain. Right now, somewhere, Sonic and his friends were out there fighting against her. They needed him. The Master Emerald needed him. God needed him. He rose to his feet and said to Randal, "Thank you so much. I have found my purpose. My friends need me!"

Randal stood up, and made the traditional cross mark in the air with his hand. "Go, then, and may God watch over and protect you all."

…

"Give up, Master User," the Master Villain cackled. "You can't possibly defeat me."

The fight against the Master Villain was going badly. Almost everybody was hurt in one way or another. The ones still standing were the Master User, Sonic, Shadow, Ben, Nazo, Emeril, Heather, Silver, Blaze, Amy, and Jonathan. And eleven people were not enough to face against this villain alone. But they had no choice. Sonic rolled himself into a spin-ball, as did Shadow. Amy and Emeril got their hammers ready (Emeril has the ability to copy moves if ANYONE has played or heard of _Sonic Battle)_ and got ready to launch them. Ben and his sister, the Master User, got on top of them, and all four of them were launched. Silver and Nazo flew into the air to prepare to catch the Masters while Sonic and Shadow targeted Celia. They hit, but Celia just swatted them aside and parried the blade attacks from both ends with her identical blade to the Master Users. Silver and Nazo caught Sonic and Shadow, set them down, and caught the Masters. After setting them down, they grabbed each other's arms and started propelling themselves toward Celia. Blaze tagged along for the ride and landed a few blows to Celia, but was soon swatted aside and Celia knocked the two other Hedgehogs out of the air. She gathered energy into a large orb and then aimed it right for the Master Gaurdian. As soon as she shot, however, brave Master inventor pushed his sister out of the way, taking the blow instead.

"AAAAAUUGH!" he screamed in agony as electric currents shot through his veins. Heather grabbed his arms and screamed, "JON! Jon, say something!"

But Jonathan couldn't. He began to change. His white lab coat dress jacket turned black. His blue streak and his blue jumpsuit turned red, and his blue goggles became red glasses. He had turned evil Nahtanoj.

…

Celia floated gently to the ground and chuckled evilly. "Well, well, well. It looks like the scientist has truly 'gone mad'. I'll be taking him for now. And, when you wimps decide to join me, I'll be here." She waved her blade, and all of the Masters and the Sonic Team vanished. But before she could go any further, she heard someone yell, "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Celia turned and saw Knuckles the Echidna in all his glory standing at the entrance. He had on his shovel claws and his power-mad suit Dr. Fintenevus "gave" him a long time ago. "You'll have to deal with me now."

Celia turned to Nahtanoj, and nodded. He bowed, and turned away. "And just who are you?"

Knuckles smiled, put on his Ener-jak armor and said, "I am Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald green, Ener-jak of Mobius, last of the Pachamac tribe, and God's warrior, and I hearby challenge you to a duel. Winner takes all the Master Emeralds AND the Master Inventor."

Celia just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Okay, big-shot. Your loss and medical bill."

…

**(Yeah, I had to pull out the old armor Fintenevus gave him in Comic 185-ish. It's THAT serious. But, hey, he wouldn't use it without a good reason, right? Besides, as Ener-jak, he could virtually be impossible to defeat. Next time, we WILL see who wins.)**


	5. Good Vs Evil

**(This is it: the big fight! You cast your votes, and now the battle begins. And, as usual, I don't own Sega characters, just my OCs. Let the fun begin!**

…

If anyone told Knuckles that he would be facing a catastrophe, he would shrug his shoulders and not care. Now, here he was facing Celia, the Master villain, with a wager for all the Master Emeralds AND the evil Master Inventor (formerly Jonathan now Nahtanoj). Decked out in his old Ener-jak suit and with the confidence of ten thousand men, he figured this fight would be cake enough for him. Making the first move, he used his suit's powers to thrust himself head-first in a spiral punch. Celia dodged to the right and tried to slice at the Echidna. Knuckles turned and blocked with his hard shovel claws. They took turns parrying at each other and blocking, then Knuckles swiped his right fist at her face. He felt a jolt as it connected with the lower jaw. Celia stumbled backwards and grabbed her jaw. Knuckles grinned as he prepared to summon a Chaos Orb. But Celia was quicker with the summoning, and shot at him in the blink of an eye. Not able to dodge in time, Knuckles was hurled up against the wall. He landed with a thud and sunk to the floor.

"Knuckles the Echidna," Celia mocked him. "Last of the Echidnas?" She walked calmly towards him. "I actually have been looking for someone like you. I need a…personal assistant to handle my 'dirty work'. You seem like the guy I need." Stopping in front of him, she extended her hand in a gesture of companionship. "Why don't you just stop fighting, join me, and do service with me? You can still have your Master Emeralds."

Knuckles rose, spat on the floor to get rid of the crud in his mouth, and smacked the hand away. "Dream on, wench! I will not tolerate the Devil's schemes and your trickery!" He made a cross motion with his right hand, and the Master Villain flinched and backed away. "In the Name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, **I SHALL DEFEAT YOU!**" Knuckles thundered like a voice of doom. Jumping into the air, he gathered all his energy into a massive ball and prepared to fire.

…

Just then, a burst of light broke through the walls, and three golden figures stood in the hole made. One of the figures burst into a speed-disk, and hurled itself in a golden light toward the Master Villain, knocking her up against the wall and the blade out of her hand. The second figure added his chaos energy to Knuckles, and helped him fire at Celia. Hitting the mark, there was an enormous boom, and a burst of a secondary light. Everyone shielded their eyes until it had passed. The third figure, tall and proud, stood over the defeated Master Villain, grabbed the Anti-Emerald staff, and started draining her power. Soon, the Master Villain was unconscious and in a deep sleep. The Master User, or the Super Master, calmly walked away from the sleeping body. Turning to Knuckles as she powered down, she said, "Thank you, Guardian. You have helped greatly in the demise of the Master Villain."

Knuckles started taking off his armor as he sheepishly said, "Aww. It was nothing. You actually can thank the Master Preacher for helping me realize my true value not just as a guardian," he turned to Sonic and Shadow and stood between them, "but as a friend."

The Master User smiled and then said to Knuckles, "You truly have found favor in God."

Then, a pattering sound came from the entrance. The Master Guardian, Heather, came in running to her Brother, who was slowly changing back into the good Jonathan, or Master Inventor. His coat changed back to white, his hair streak and jumpsuit and goggles turned back to blue, and he collapsed right into his sister's arms. Hugging him tight, Heather cried in his shoulder and uttered, "Don't ever do that again."

The rest of the group filed slowly in. Amy ran up to Sonic and started hugging him. Sonic struggled to get away, while Shadow walked over to Rouge and Omega and stood in glory at the surroundings. Tails and Chris shared a high-five-, and the Master Advisor, Ben, came over to the Master User and hugged his sister. "I guess the only thing left to do now is go home with the Master Emeralds and our prisoner."

Knuckles heard this and pulled him aside. "We still need to finish that duel we were doing. Or have you forgotten?"

Ben smirked and noogied the red echidna. "Fine then, hot-shot! Let's get to it!"

…

Knuckles jumped out of the way of Ben's double-edged sword, and landed on top of it. He used the sword as a spring-board to launch himself up into the air to perform his drill-dive. Ben dodged to the right and Knuckles drilled right into the ground. Ben stopped for a moment to look around him. Suddenly, the ground erupted beneath his feet, and Knuckles shot out of the ground, knocking him off balance. Knuckles stood triumphantly over the beaten Master Advisor, and all his friends cheered. Then, the Master Advisor tapped his blade to the ground and, just like before, he transformed into his normal form with no armor. His weapon turned back into a staff, and he walked over to the Master User. "Well fought, Ben," she smiled before turning to Knuckles. "Knuckles the Echidna, you have won the bet. The Master Emerald green shall remain here with you. But you must promise us that you will continue to be the guardian until we return again."

Knuckles extended his hand and said, "I promise."

Then, they shook hands, and the Master User led her clan back to the repaired ship. Knuckles stopped her from going on and asked, "Just one thing: what is your name?"

Before the Master User could answer, the Master pilot came up behind her and said, "Ma'am? We must hurry. It is time."

The Master User looked at Knuckles and said, "My name is Heidi." With that, she walked back onto the ship, and the door closed. As the Silver ship rocketed back into space, Knuckles stared at where it disappeared, always remembering that he was chosen to guard the Master Emerald. Pulling out his long-forgotten Bible, he opened it to a random page. There, in Galatians, he read to himself from the seventeenth verse: "_From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the mark of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen."_

…

**(And what a remarkable ending for all to enjoy! Turned out better than I had expected. If you liked it, or not, please, do not forget to review down be-looow! And, also, if you haven't already, check out my other stories [I cover a wide variety] and my profile. Go visit my favorite authors and see my other favorite stories, and tell them I sent ya. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll smell you later!..oooook, that was wrong.)**


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